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ftantly keep up the Fervour of our Minds towards God: Not giving over our Prayers, tho' we have not a Return of them fo foon as we expect; but continuing inftant in Prayer, as Rom. 12. the Apostle speaks, and watching thereunto with 12. Eph.6. 18. all Perfeverance.

Thefe are the chief Things which are comprized in this Command of our Saviour. Now to recommend the Practice hereof to you, and to offer fome Arguments, to perfuade every one thus to pray always, and not to faint, is that which I defign in the remaining Part of this Discourse.

I do not know how it comes to pass, that Men have generally fo great an Aversion to this Duty of Prayer. They are very hardly got to it; they are glad of any Pretence in the World to be excufed from it. And when they do come to perform their Devotions, (which, among many, is not oftner than the Laws or Customs of the Country oblige them to) how foon are they weary of them! How little do they attend to the Bufinefs they are about! As if indeed Prayer was one of the greatest Burthens that God could lay upon Human Nature. Whereas in Truth, if our Lufts and Paffions were out of the way, and Men could be brought to give themselves the Liberty of confidering Things equally; we fhould be convinced that there is no Work that a Man can apply himself to; no Action that he can perform, to which there are greater Invitations, greater Motives; nay, I was going to fay, greater Temptations of all forts, than to this of Prayer.

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Suppofe one would fet himself to perfuade any of us to the Practice of fome particular thing which he hath a Mind to recommend to us; what more effectual Method could he take for the carrying of his Point, than to lay before us the common Heads of Arguments, by which all Mankind are prevailed upon to undertake any Bufinefs or Action? And then to convince us, that the Thing he would fuade us to, is recommendable upon all these Accounts. As for Inftance, That it is a Thing fit, and decent, and reafonable to be done. Nay, 'tis a Thing we are oblig'd in Duty to do, even fo far oblig'd, that we act against our Natures, if we do it not; nor have we any juft Exception against it; it is the moft eafie Thing in the World; it will put us to no manaer of Trouble, or Pains, or SelfDenial. So far from that, that it is very plea fant and delightful. And not only fo, but alfo highly creditable and honourable. And, which is the Top of all, the Benefits and Advantages we fhall receive from it, are extremely great in all Refpects. If now, I fay, a Man can make all these Things good of the Point he would perfuade us to; fure all the World must account us out of our Wits, if we do not follow his Advice.

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Yet all these Things, it may be evidently made to appear, are true of Prayer, and that too in a higher Degree than of moft Things in the World. What therefore can be defired in this Exercife to recommend the Practice thereof to us, that it hath not? And what must be concluded of us, if, notwithstanding

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all this, we continue obftinate in our Neglects of it? Give me leave to speak a little to these feveral Particulars.

First of all; Doth it recommend any Thing to our Practice that is fit, and decent, and reafonable to be done? Then certainly we must needs think ourselves obliged to the conftant Practice of this Point we are speaking of. For there is nothing that doth more become us; nor is any Thing more undecent, or more unreasonable, than the Neglect of it.

Is it not fit that the Sovereign Lord of us, and of the World, fhould be acknowledged by us? That we, who do continually depend upon him, should ever and anon be looking up to him, and expreffing that Dependance? Is it not fit that we, who every Moment experience a Thousand Inftances of his Kindness, partake of a Thousand Mercies and Favours of his, and muft perish the next Minute, unlefs they be continued to us; Is it not highly fit and reafonable (I fay) that we fhould take notice, at leaft, of thefe Things to this our Benefactor?

We should think it very ill Manners to pass by our Prince, or even any of our Betters, without faluting them, or fome way or other teftifying our Respect to them, tho' they had no way particularly obliged us: But if we were beholden to them for our daily Bread; to come into their Prefence without taking Notice of them, or their Bounty to us, would be intolerable. How much more intolerable therefore muft it be, to pafs by God Almighty Day after Day; nay, to be in his Prefence

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continually, (as indeed we always are) and yet neither to pay any Homage or Reverence to him, as he is our fupreme Lord, nor to make any Acknowledgements, as he is our daily Preferver and Benefactor.

If we had any Senfe of Ingenuity, we fhould blush to think of paffing a Day without feveral Times' lifting up our Minds, and doing our Respects to Almighty God, though there was no other Ill in the Neglect, than only the horrible Rudeness and ill Manners that it discovers in us.

But, Secondly, The conftant Exercife of Prayer is not only recommended to us under the Notion of a very decent and reasonable Thing, but as an indifpenfable Duty. Almighty hath moft ftrictly charged it upon us, and we are Tranfgreffors of his Laws, if we do not practise it.

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Nature itself fpeaks fufficiently plain in this Matter. And where-ever God hath to the Law of Nature fuper added any Revelation of his Will, this Duty we are fpeaking of, fails not to make up a confiderable Part of it. It would be endless to mention all that is faid upon this Head by our Lord and his Apostles in the New Teftament. I have told you already, that they oblige us to no less than Praying always, Praying without ceafing. They use likewife abundance of other Expreffions to the like Purpose. They bid us, every where to lift up boly Hands. In every Thing to make our Sup. plications known unto God. To pray in the Spirit with all Prayer and Supplication, and to watch thereunto with all Perfeverance.

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If it be faid, There is no fuch exprefs Command for Prayer in that Revelation which was made to the Jews; I Anfwer, It is a great Mistake. The Prophet's do over and over again injoin it as the Principal Part of the Worship of God. And thofe that live without Praying, are, by those Inspired Writers, rank'd Palm 53. among the Atheists. And as for the Law of 1,4 Mofes itself, it is obvious to obferve, that the greatest Part of it is concerning Sacrifices. Now Sacrifices, if we will understand them right, were nothing elfe but that Form or Method of putting up Prayers to God, that was in thofe Times ufed in the World. So that, in Truth, fo far was Prayer from being left as a Matter of Indifferency to the Jews, that most of their Religion confifted in it.

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And accordingly all the Devout Men of that Church spent much of their Time in this Exercife. David's manner was to pray Seven Times a Day. And Daniel took himself to be fo much obliged to the frequent Practice of this Duty; that rather than break this Cuftom of performing his Solemn Devotions Three Times a Day, he would expose' himself to the Den of Lyons.

Nay, Thirdly, So great is our Obligation to frequent Prayer, that he acts against his Nature, whofoever doth not practife it. For, in Truth, Prayer is the proper and peculiar Duty of Man, as he is a Man.

That which conftitutes the Nature of Man, and doth formally difference and distinguish him from all other Animals, is, not fo much the Power of Reason, as the Capacity of being Re

ligious,

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